Editor’s note: This story was updated on January 28 to include comments from W.B. Brawley Co.
An unfinished Fayetteville fire station may now need to be demolished—the latest twist in a project already entangled in lawsuits and flagged for state audit.
Applied Building Sciences, the firm hired to assess the troubled Fire Station No. 4 on Bragg Boulevard, concluded in a new report that the structure that should have been finished in 2023 is “not suitable for completion” because of extensive structural and code‑compliance failures.
Fayetteville City Council members were scheduled to hear the findings at their January 26 meeting, but ice and wintry weather forced a postponement. The presentation has been rescheduled to February 2, when council members are expected to formally receive the report. Any decision on whether to salvage or demolish the building will come later.
The ABS report outlined a series of failures that, taken together, the firm said make the building unsafe and unfit for completion. Among the findings:
- Extensive roof failures, including improperly seamed roof panels, inadequately supported insulation and unsealed gaps between the roof and walls that could allow water intrusion.
- Mold growth due to prolonged exposure to the elements.
- Missing or improperly documented special inspections, including inspections that were performed only after components were already concealed.
A Project Years Behind Schedule and Mired in Litigation
The new Fire Station No. 4—located about half a mile north of Bragg Boulevard and Sycamore Dairy Road—was approved in May 2022 with a $9.4 million construction contract awarded to W.B. Brawley Co. The station was intended to replace the city’s aging 1960 facility and was expected to open in December 2023.
Instead, construction stalled in late 2024 after the city terminated its contract with Brawley. By that point, Fayetteville had already spent $4.3 million.
The city sued the contractor on Sept. 15, 2024, alleging Brawley’s “mismanagement” caused “repeated and nearly continuous delays” and missed milestones. Brawley countered with its own lawsuit weeks later, arguing the city—not the contractor—breached the agreement by providing a flawed design, failing to pay properly, and denying justified time extensions.
The dispute is still moving through court.
In an email to CityView, Jon Gore, president of W.B. Brawley Co., defended the company’s work and disputed the consultant’s findings.
“Brawley stands behind the quality of our work. We believe most of the findings in the ABS report are incorrect. And more concerning is that their findings do not justify a tear down of Fire Station #4,” Gore wrote.
He said the company was allowed to do its own inspections after receiving the ABS report and found that the issues cited in the report stem from incomplete work, long‑term exposure to the elements, or are not supported by evidence.
Gore added that “tearing down the building would be a substantial waste of taxpayer funds and is woefully premature.”
City officials have said they will not decide the building’s fate until the litigation is resolved. Only then will the council determine whether to demolish the structure or attempt to fix it.
The Fire Station No. 4 project is one of several construction efforts the city has asked the state auditor to review after contractor disputes escalated into lawsuits.
Government reporter Rachel Heimann Mercader can be reached at rheimann@cityviewnc.com or 910-988-8045.
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